READING, Pa. – Former Quinnipiac Men's Lacrosse captain Chris Coppolecchia (Somers, N.Y.) was recently selected in the second round of the inaugural Professional Lacrosse League (PLL) College Draft, announced on July 24, 2012 by the association. The Reading Rockets, a team out of Pennsylvania, have added the 6-foot-1 defenseman to their 2012 roster.

Coppolecchia, who was instrumental in the growth of the program during his four-year stint, was named to the 2012 Northeast Conference First Team in his most recent campaign. In his final season with the Bobcats, he started in all 14 games, caused 43 turnovers, collected 61 ground balls and won 16 face-offs in the circle. Furthermore, his average of 3.07 ground balls per game ranked him first in all of Division I men's lacrosse. He also wrapped up his career in eighth place all-time at QU in career ground balls with 144, finishing just six shy seventh place on the list. On the other side of the ball, he recorded a point with an assist at Hartford back in March.

Joining Coppolecchia from the draft will be nine other players including Steele Stanwick of Virginia. The Baltimore native won the Tewaaraton Trophy, awarded to the top American college lacrosse player, and the Jack Turnbull Award as the nation's top attacker. After Coppolecchia, the Rockets drafted Billy Eisenreich (Bucknell), Michael Hibbard (Curry College), Matt Cannone (Salisbury), Brett Schmidt (Mount St. Mary's), Ben Knapton (Hartford), Joe Cummings (Maryland), Dylan Hoff (Lynchburg College) and Andrew Collins (Drexel).

"All in all, I think our draft gives us a nice mix of players in various roles," said Rockets General Manager Andy Makal. "Some of these guys have experience in the MLL, and we hope they bring that to the indoor game and use the indoor experience to help their outdoor game."

The PLL is a proposed men's professional indoor lacrosse league in the United States. The league was formed in 2012 with its inaugural season scheduled to begin in September. The league currently comprises four teams, all of whom were originally affiliated with the North American Lacrosse League (NALL).